The Fallen Vampire

Chapter 111: To See My Foe Outstretched

"I was angry with my friend; I told my wrath, my wrath did end. I was angry with my foe: I told it not, my wrath did grow.

And I watered it in fears, Night & morning with my tears: And I stunned it with smiles, and with soft deceitful wiles.

And it grew both day and night. Till it bore an apple bright. And my foe beheld it shine, and he knew that it was mine.

And into my garden stole, When the night had veiled the pole; In the morning glad I see; My foe outstretched beneath the tree.."

"I must have recited that for you like twenty years ago... I'm amazed that you still remember it."

"I must confess that I did not at first, however I find it most fitting given our present circumstances."

"Yes... I suppose that you would. Might you remember exactly what the name of the poet was too?"

"... Kahlil Gibran? "

"William Blake, but you were close, darling."

Vermeil gave Taira a small kiss for second place, and the two of them returned their attention towards the fortress a mile away.

With their enhanced eyesight, they were more than capable of seeing their target as if they were right in front of it.

With it currently being dark at night, Taira could see even better.

There was a small patrol of soldiers at the overlord realm who would pose absolutely no trouble to either of them, but tonight was not the night for showing off just how powerful they had become in fifty years.

This was simply an espionage mission, and nothing further.

Enyo and Lucia were also standing on the tree with them, not bending the branch a single centimeter despite their collective weight- a trick they had picked up from their husband overtime.

Although, Aveena and Keran did not have the aptitude for this particular trick, and they lamented over it quite a bit.

"I'll be heading in now."

"We know there shouldn't be any, but if there are any stragglers who attempt to flee then we will cut them down." Enyo said in a helpful tone.

"This way, you have a bit more room for forgiveness if things should go wrong." Lucia said warmly.

Smiling, Taira grabbed the lamia by her waist and kissed her dangerously underneath the moon's watchful eye.

'Doubting your husband when he has never given you any reason to do so...? I will remind you of a very necessary lesson now and later...'

Taira released the young woman and fell back from the ninety meter tree.

While falling, Taira's body started to shift and change into something unrecognizable.

As soon as he touched the ground, he made a dull whooshing sound as he disappeared into thin air.

A moment later, the girls looked at each other before nodding and taking a moment to get to their respective positions.

Although secretly knowing... they could have left it all to their husband if they really wanted to.

-

Guard 1: "Okay okay, well what about this! How many bodies is too many bodies for a woman?"

*audible groaning ensues*

Guard 2: "Why do you ask this stupid shit every day?"

Guard 3: "You know damn well nobody else who is happy with their lives asks this nonsense, right?"

Guard 4: "I hate going on patrols with this motherfucker..."

Guard 5: "If it works for you, it works for you. If it doesn't, it doesn't. The fuck do you want to argue about this for?"

Guard 6: "You know I only like sluts and fat bitches."

Guard 1 : "I'm just trying to pass the time! Why are you all acting like you're too good for a simple hypothetic-"

All: "WE'RE SICK OF HEARING ABOUT THIS SHIT!"

Guard 1: "Fine then, we can just patrol in silence! Bunch of boring bastards..."

The group of guards finally resumed their patrols quietly, with one of them showing more signs of irritation than all the rest.

As they circled the perimeter for what felt like the thousandth time this night, one of the men finally spotted something in the forest.

"Hang on guys, look over there!"

The six guards all found a black Shepard dog that looked to be at the end of it's life or at least close to it.

The men all hesitantly approached the creature to inspect it for trickery, but upon passing qi through it and realizing that it really was just a dog, they relaxed to a noticeable degree.

"He's bone thin..."

"And marked up to hell too."

"No doubt he's been scraping by trying to fight off magic beasts and surviving on what little food he was able to get."

The dog finally looked up at the assembled men, and it showed some signs of aggressive behavior as it backed away shakily.

"Easy now." One warned the rest. "He's wounded so he's extra defensive. Don't make any sudden movements or seem threatening."

The cultivator dropped onto his feet and took off his glove before holding out his hand ever slowly.

While allowing the dog to sniff him, he spoke to him in as gentle words as possible, like he were trying to convince him that he could be trusted.

Eventually, the dog stopped growling and hesitantly sniffed the man's hand before becoming docile once again.

"I'm gonna take him with us."

"Are we allowed to have pets at the base?"

"Don't see why not. I'll ask the Hero for permission but he shouldn't mind. Especially not since this old bastard only seems to have a few more weeks of life to live at the most."

"Why would you want a dog that's going to die any day now? You should just leave it out here."

"Nah, I'm not gonna do something like that!" The man took the dog into his arms and lifted him up gently, making sure to carry him without putting unnecessary pressure on his old bones.

"I'll patch him up, give him a bath, a good meal, and maybe even let him screw one of these fallen women while he's at it! I hope someone would have the decency to do the same for me when I'm about to die!"

At this, the men all turned up their noses as if they found his plan to be distasteful.

"With the fallen? You're sick."

"Don't worry, don't worry, I'll get one of the old broken ones from the stable that nobody uses anymore."

"Oh, that's fine then."

Their plan made up, the men continued their patrol until was time for a change, and then they carried their newfound friend past the gate and into the fortress.

As soon as they got inside, the man holding the dog made a beeline for the upstairs corridor, towards the living quarters.

It just so happened that as soon as he went upstairs, he ran smack into the person he was looking for.

He was a large bulky human in dark blue armor with a giant greatsword strapped across his back.

He had a handsome face lacerated with fine claw marks, and short dirty blonde hair in the style of a buzzcut.

His crystal blue eyes were peaceful and serene-like, but they hid a rather ferocious and talented nature in battle.

"Hero Vance! It is good to see you!"

"Leroy, right? Off duty already?"

"Yes sir, I have just finished!"

"And I see you brought a friend in too." Vance patted the dog on the head gently, while paying close attention to avoid the old wounds caked with dried blood.

"Yes sir, I did! If it is alright with you, I'd like permission to keep him!"

Vance stared at the dog momentarily before letting out a half-hearted sigh.

"Alright then. Just clean up after him, yea? It'll aggravate the others if they step into any of his little presents in the corridor."

"Yes sir, I'll take excellent care of him!"

Vance bid the young soldier farewell, and he turned around before heading back into his own room at the end of the hall.

Afterwards, Leroy stuck to his plan and cleaned up the dog's wounds as best he could.

He then got the dog into a bath, which admittedly caused him a fair bit of pain due to the hot water in his wounds, and then he took him back to his room where he laid out a better feast than what most peasants would have been subjected to.

Various cuts of cooked meat, from the simple roasted bird to the intrinsically marbled steak.

"Alright, Yaju! You eat up and I'll be back in just a moment."

Leroy left the room a moment later, with the dog he had named 'Yaju' sitting on an impromptu doggie bed.

The dog sniffed at the food momentarily before nibbling on a small piece of chicken before inevitably deciding that he didn't have much of an appetite.

A few moments later, the door to Leroy's bedroom was opened once again, and he tossed a lifeless woman into the room.

"Got you a gift, boy! She ain't exactly top of the line, but she's better than another dog... I think... But not by much."

Leroy kicked the woman over towards the dog and ripped off the burlap sack she wore as coverings.

He waited and waited for the dog or the girl to move, but neither did so.

"Were you a girl all this time...? Should I have got you one of the men instead?" he muttered. "There certainly were a lot more of them to choose from..."

Suddenly, the candle illuminating the room was blown out, and Leroy frowned as he held out his hand to produce more flame.

But as he prepared to do so, something suddenly happened.

His neck felt strangely sore, and he was suddenly incapable of drawing breath.

Or standing up for that matter.

'What the..?'

His body fell back onto his mattress a moment later, completely unaware that his neck had been turned around 360 degrees in an instant, by a powerful telekinetic force that he could never have hoped to defend against.

Yaju picked up the woman's torn rags with his mouth, and covered her body as best he could.

Confused but not afraid, the woman's eyes finally regained some degree of life as she believed she may have been seeing things.

A man suddenly appeared next to her, one who once bore the visage of a dog.

He nearly gave her a consolatory pat on the head before he stopped himself, deciding that touching this woman in any capacity may have done her more harm than good.

'Girls...Change of plans.'

Vermeil: 'Has something gone wrong?'

Lucia: 'If you need us, we will rush to your aid right now and-'

'This is no longer a reconnaissance effort, this is an execution. Be ready at a moment's notice.'